Spain escapes inclusion on red list

Published on Thursday, August 5, 2021

The latest update sees Germany and Austria added to the safe green list as Spain avoided being put on the red list.

New green list countries are Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway.

There was also good news for India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates which were all taken off the red list, meaning vaccinated travellers can avoid quarantine on return to the UK.

Replacing them are Mexico, Georgia and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte which became red list destinations.

The traffic light changes take effect on Sunday.

In addition, France will no longer be on the ‘amber plus’

Although Spain remains amber, the government advises that people retiring to England take a PCR  rather than a lateral flow test, for the mandatory pre-departure test.

It serves as an added ‘precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country.’

Scotland and Northern Ireland will adopt all the same changes while Wales has not confirmed yet whether it will do the same.